Huh. Just realized this album was from 2022. I guess I found it sooner or later. Pretty dang sure that landscape they are driving through at the start is the road between Marfa and Alpine out in West Texas. Beautiful patch of the world. Also, I freaking love the banjo in that tune - just the perfect level of pluck weaving in around behind their harmonies. Damn, I would love to be on the rim at Big Bend, drinking a cold beer and listening to Crutchfield sing right now. Sounds like a perfect evening. Definitely an enjoyable disc.
Blu & Evidence - Los Angeles. No recollection of where this one came from, but I kind of dig it. There are multiple songs on here that call back to Cypress Hill, and I am extremely here for that. "The Land" uses a piece of that guitar hit from "How I Could Just Kill a Man," and also contains some little snippet of someone talking about making that song. Not sure if either of these guys somehow had a hand in making that original track, but I like the laid back throwback this one is. Cool as the other side of the pillow. "The Cold" is similar, and sounds like the Cypress track "Illusions." Really enjoy the chill of it. The top track is the second-to-last one on here, "Wild Wild West." Only 139k streams.
Lot of L.A. references throughout the disc - LA Traffic, LA Tourists, neighborhoods, crime, all of it. Good disc of new rap that sounds classic and timeless to me.
Mac Miller - Balloonerism. I have talked before some about how weird it is to get a posthumous release from artists. Is this really what he wanted to release? Did he like these tracks? Is someone just throwing this out there to make money despite the fact that he didn't finish these or intend for them to be a part of his legacy? Feels kind of gross. And this is his second release after death, which makes it even less likely that this one was something he wanted out there. According to the Internet, this was apparently an album that he put together in 2015, but shelved in favor of his more upbeat major-label debut. It's a jazzy, low-key, kind of depressing sound in here - "Mrs. Deborah Downer" being a prime example, but several of these stick to that formula. There are no party raps in here. But that doesn't mean it is bad or anything, it's just very much a vibe album. There are no cool samples, there is no booming bass, it's more like he made a Tiny Desk concert out of his B-Sides, with Thundercat and a jazz synth player in tow. Lyrics like "how long has it been since you smiled?" or "look around and all I see if gray skies, there's help inside that medicine cabinet." "5 Dollar Pony Rides" is the top track with 22.9 million streams.
Can't you just see this happening in the Tiny Desk space? It is a nice little vibe, and it sticks through the whole album. Nothing so special that I really need to hold on to it forever, but a nice relaxing detour into bummerville.
High Vis - Guided Tour. This one came to me from trying to find other things that sound like Turnstile. To me, this is not as good, not as catchy or melodic, but it still scratches the itch of loud, angry dudes blasting some post-punk rock into my earholes. "Mind's a Lie" is interesting each time it pops up, because of the little sample loop they added into it. Doesn't fit at all with the rest of these tunes at first, and then it super does. Because while some of this is skuzzy yell-along hardcore, it can also sound like an 80's pop rock band throwing anthemic guitar chords to the sky. "Feeling Bless" is a great example of that. I don't know what to compare those guitars to - The Psychedelic Furs? Early U2? Teenage Bandwagon? Dunno. But I like it. As usual for me, some of the yelling starts to ache after a while, I wish he did a little less of that. But overall, the disc makes me bob my head and bop along. Like, the underlying, chugging tune of "Mob DLA" jams for sure, but the verses tire me out. Top track is that "Mind's a Lie" one. 1.1 million streams.
Seriously, each time this song starts my mind thinks that we must have started a new album. That skinhead guy seems real mad and stuff. There is one guitar strum they do in there a few times that, again, makes me think of some classic 80's song that I can't place. The version of London shown in that video is depressing as all hell.
